Guilt of a Fallen Angel
by Archery Shootingstar Bright
Summary: Based on an actual deleted scene of the first movie. Lilo wants to introduce Stitch to Pudge the fish. But Stitch just wants chaos. It takes a while, maybe til it's too late, for him to realize there are consequences for the trouble he causes.


**So, when I watched the deleted scenes of Lilo & Stitch, this one pulled on my heartstrings, and I had to write about this scene. **

**I wasn't sure what to title it, and I'm not completely satisfied with my current title of it...only Lilo thinks he's a fallen angel; Stitch _knows _what he really is. But I guess for now it's appropriate *shrug***

**Anyway, look up the deleted scene on Youtube either before or after reading this. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, not even the story in here, technically, because it's based on a scene that the studio made, deleted or not. This is nonprofit and fanmade, and I only wrote it to show that I can really feel for these characters. **

* * *

Her hand gently touched the surface of the cool beach water, making soft ripples. Perched on a rock, Lilo stood up, awaiting her other best friend, staring in the water.

Stitch crawled, sniffed, and explored slightly around and then settled closer to Lilo to see what she was doing.

"Yes," Lilo breathed softly with a hint of excitement.

Stitch noticed a colorful blob of a creature begin to rise from under the blurry waters. What was the girl summoning?

Its head poked out of the water and looked at Lilo, unafraid. The little Hawaiian girl grinned and greeted her little friend, bending down to very lightly pat the fish's head. It didn't budge.

"This is Pudge," she introduced to Stitch. "He's my other best friend."

Another strange creature of this planet. Stitch brought himself closer and curiously poked one claw into the rippling waters where Pudge was. The chubby fish ducked down in time. "Ooh," Stitch said, taking in great interest.

Pudge's rotund head bobbed up on the surface again, gazing up loyally at Lilo. The child carefully picked the round, delicate body out of the water by his sides and kissed him on the lips happily. The familiar wet, slippery feeling on her lips and hands was a wonderful feeling. Warmer than anything she got from her human friends.

Stitch was able to see the animal's full body in the clear air. Its scales shimmered in the sunlight, and he noticed how slimy it seemed. It didn't struggle against the girl's grip as she planted the kiss on its big lips.

Lilo turned her cheek and Pudge willingly kissed her back as she brought him closer. It tickled and felt so wet and slippery, and she giggled joyfully.

"He has a peanut butter belly," Lilo said proudly, holding her friend up, careful not to let him slip. She turned and held Pudge out to her dog who sat nearby. "Here, now you kiss him," she said cheerfully.

Stitch noticed the creature was hanging limp in her innocent little hands, but was very much awake and alive. He wouldn't _kiss _anyone. Heck, what _was _kissing for anyway? Besides, he didn't take kindly to any creature that got in his face. "Rrrah!" Out of habit and pure instinct, he pushed the slick plump balloon of a fish out of Lilo's hands. It was just his nature. Anything could have been a threat to him, and if it turned out it wasn't, well it could always jump back up and walk away, right? Or float away? No big deal.

Lilo watched in horror as her friend slipped out of her hands by her dog's push, and landed on some other wet rocks some feet away. Poor Pudge! She whipped around and glared at the attacker.

"Why did you do that?" the girl yelled, upset. Stitch just returned a confused look. Why didn't the animal just get up and come back? Couldn't it move? Otherwise it was the girl's own fault for taking it out and shoving it in his face anyway. She ought to know by now anyway that he didn't like anyone getting too close.

Immediately without waiting for an answer, Lilo frantically hurried over to her other friend to pick him up and put him back in the water safe and sound. Out of nowhere, webbed feet and beaks came down, in a mess of feathers to compete for the fish. "AHHH!" the girl screamed. No, this can't be happening! She would not let them take her beautiful friend! "HEY!" she yelled at the seagulls, full of panic and fear, desperately batting at the monstrous birds to keep them away. The one that had Pudge in its slippery grasp dropped him. There was a commotion as the birds fussed about trying to reach for the fish again and Lilo waving her arms to keep them off.

Stitch, amused, watched from a close distance as the flock squeeed and squawked to fight over the fish.

"Stitch! Help me!" Lilo screamed, the birds not giving up, pecking and pulling at her hair trying to get past her. The birds weren't afraid of her, but they would be afraid of Stitch if only he came!

However, Stitch didn't feel like chasing birds for fun. He laughed at the hilarious chaos in front of him and sat down comfortably. He was thoroughly entertained at seeing the battle, seeing the birds keep coming and making funny noises, seeing the girl screaming like the noises he liked to hear.

"STITCH! HELP!" Lilo screeched, scared to death as she fought the pesky gulls that scrambled around her and fussed to get to the fish.

Stitch just watched, grinning and satisfied with the hysterical action he saw. They looked so little right then.

Lilo whined impatiently and struggled and finally the birds let up and flew away. She made sure they all left. Luckily, they didn't take Pudge.

But, unluckily, fate did.

Lilo knelt down beside her fallen friend. Though his eyes were open as always, as it is with all fish, she knew he was definitely dead. There was no way he could heal from being tossed around on the rocks, and being away from the water at the same time. His gills wouldn't open in the water. He didn't desperately try to move a shake. Pudge was gone. She whipped her head around furiously at her dog for starting it. She felt her eyes blur and the inside of her nose hurt, and her cheeks burn. The despairing child's anger showed completely as she growled storming toward her newest "best friend".

Stitch saw the girl return and was still smiling. But wait, she was _not _happy for winning that battle against the seagulls, _not _happy that in the end she had kept Pudge. _Why was tha-_

_Ow! _Lilo had punched him on the shoulder hard, with a fist stone hard. Though he didn't feel much physical pain, being indestructible and all, there was some sort of indescribable pain that came from the punch. It was probably shock. He had never seen her like this. He noticed not only was her face red, but her eyes were wet. _What is this?_

"What's WRONG with you!" Lilo shouted, pointing accusingly at his face. What kind of angel was this, who would sit back and relax when friends could get hurt? She noticed his face was shocked and clueless, his smile vanished in an instant as his ears went down as if to ask "What happened?"

"Pudge was part of our family!" She continued to yell, little droplets appearing from her hard, enraged eyes and leaking down her reddened cheeks. "You don't let your family DIE! YOU DON'T _EVER!" _

The harsh, new words struck Stitch in a way he'd never felt before. He had never seen someone cry before. This was all new to him. All he knew was the fun of hearing screaming, the joy of chaos, and the life of being feared. He thought the only emotions he would hear from others were screams of fright. What was this new emotion right here, that caused water to fill up the eyes? Was this normal? Did it happen every time after all the screaming- why is it that he never noticed?

Lilo was trembling with fury and misery, glaring down at Stitch until he was a blur. She turned away, not wanting to look at the stupid, stupid monster, not wanting to ever see that murderer again. She returned to her poor, abandoned old friend, feeling the hot tears stream down her burning red cheeks, sniffling and wiping them away. Kneeling down again, she took a good long look at the beautiful Pudge. She gently cupped her hands under him and closed her eyes tight, letting the tears keep coming. She didn't brush them off as she brought Pudge up to her heart and pressed her face against him, embracing her dead friend tenderly. "I needed you," she whispered, her voice purely sad, as she got up and walked away, not giving Stitch a glance back or anything. The cheerfulness of strangers at the beach, enjoying themselves, was distant. Anyone happy at that moment was completely ignorant of a little girl grieving her dear friend.

Stitch watched the girl walk away, cuddling the corpse of the fish and leaving him. Unsure if she wanted him to follow, he decided he would follow, not only because of using her as a shield anymore, but because he was curious. He wondered what he did wrong. How did he know the creature was so delicate it would die so easily? How did he know the funny birds could be so violent? How did he know the fish meant that much to her? Deep down, he wanted to make it up for her.

Lilo knew he was following behind, and she didn't turn around the whole way. However, she didn't tell him to stop, either. After all, she reminded herself, he was an angel, even if he made mistakes. He was a lonely, strange orphan, and she had chosen to adopt him. _He needs a chance to be good and maybe he'd change…_Of course, this didn't make her forgive him so easily. But she did hope she could know what was wrong with him…she held Pudge closer and cried onto him again. She sobbed silently, following the path she frequently visited and knew by heart.

Stitch wondered where they were going. He walked on behind her, on all fours as he'd seen the Earth creatures called dogs do, imitating their behavior, hoping he looked convincing. He wondered if there was a special place for fixing the little fish and restoring it, or maybe there was a place where she'd find a new one. Two things repeated in his mind as he kept following: _Where are we going? _And _Why did I do it?_

Once in a place that looked quiet and secret, Lilo bent down and gathered clumps of dirt. After kissing him and whispering goodbye, she placed the empty corpse of her old acquaintance down softly, and buried it without a word. Her silence was filled with sorrow.

Stitch observed and pondered. He couldn't tell what in the world she was doing. It was strange, but she did it in a way that seemed very…respectful. He had no idea what good it would do. Then, he turned and saw strange stones. They were rounded and flat on the sides, and stuck up from the ground like they grew from it. They had leis on top, and there were two of them. Carved on each were letters…words…numbers…he realized he somehow knew how to read it. Maybe it was the intelligence he was given from his creation. It said names and dates…He studied what one engraved word said…

He gasped as a sudden realization struck him hard. It couldn't be…and yet there it was. These were…_graves. _He had never seen graves before, but he picked up quickly. Graves were where Earth people buried the dead that they loved. And he grasped that Lilo's parents were buried here.

All of a sudden he felt very uneasy, and didn't like this place. This place frightened him greatly, being in the presence of dead. He now understood better what death was. It was a life being lost, being ended, and other lives missing something afterwards. And he felt very uncomfortable taking in that he may have caused other deaths, other losses, other destruction of lives forever, earlier before coming here, and never took notice. He felt a pang of guilt- which he had never felt before in his life and it scared him- that told him he had just killed another, and the girl had to experience another loss because of him. The rush of guilt and regret and sorrow overtook him, and all of a sudden he felt his cheeks, the inside of his nose, hurt, felt his eyes blur with water.

There was a gentle breeze that brought blossoms and leaves down from the trees and he shivered, scared. Not attacking the breeze this time, he suddenly felt weak and afraid, and fled, wanting to hide the water that filled and ached and leaked from his eyes. Instead of being afraid of the water drowning him inside out, the outcast experiment was afraid of getting someone hurt again.

Lilo looked at the blossoms the breeze gave to her, on the ground right beside Pudge's new grave. She picked one up and placed it on top of where Pudge was. "My mom sent some decorations for us," she said, thankful.

She put another pretty blossom in her long black hair and stood up. "Stitch?" Her dog was gone. Her anger at him had melted away, and all she wanted to do was gently talk to him. Maybe he was just too rough and wanted to be good but couldn't help it sometimes…just like her. Maybe the poor angel was outcast because of these problems, and needed help to be good again. Maybe he was an orphan with a really heartbreaking past, and needed love to start loving again. Whatever the reason, she knew she had to talk to him. Though losing Pudge was painful, maybe Stitch could redeem himself. At least be there and say last words to Pudge with her.

She found him past the gate left open, under a skinny tree, bending over and covering his eyes. He seemed to be silently weeping.

Stitch just wished the earth would swallow him up. He hoped if Pudge was still somewhere, it would forgive him. He hoped Lilo would forgive him. But he couldn't forgive himself. He was no good. He hated himself now. The tears, his first tears, wouldn't stop coming, falling from his eyes and into his hands. The same hands that had killed and destroyed…_What have I done? Why was I made like that? _He had just ended a life, a life of a good friend, a friend that was better than him, and maybe this wasn't the first time he did such a bad thing either…the guilty, terrible thoughts echoed like an endless train of thought in his head.

The sound of sweet little birds in the garden…they were so happy it broke his heart. He was the ender of such happiness.

He sensed Lilo coming, but didn't lift his head or move. He remained where he was, continuing to sob into his hands, his wretched, wicked hands. She had every right to destroy him now. He knew he deserved it.

Lilo saw that Stitch was sincerely crying, that he was truly sorry, and her anger at him softened even more. He couldn't bring back the dead, but she saw he was just as sad as she was, somehow maybe more. She saw into his heart as much as she could, and saw that he wanted to be good and would try if given a chance.

Stitch felt her put a flower on his head, tuck it between his head and where his ear began. He looked to the side, up from his paws, his teary eyes afraid of her judgment. She didn't look angry any longer. She whispered in a soft, forgiving, innocent tone, "You didn't do it on purpose, did you." It wasn't exactly a question; she said it as if it were a true statement, as if she thought she saw into him.

She sounded so mercifully kind that he wept more. He wasn't sure how to respond to it. It was an accident that happened _because_ of something done on purpose…

All he knew was that he wished he had never met Pudge, wished that this day never happened.


End file.
